New Delhi:

The pro-Khalistan Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) will go to any length to defame India. This has been attested by a new revelation that SFJ has made a “donation” of $10,000 (Rs. 7 lakh) to the United Nations (UN) while also seeking that the global watchdog set up a “commission of enquiry” into alleged “atrocities on farmers protesting against the new farm acts in India.”

Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is a US-based separatist group that advocates the secession of Punjab from India as Khalistan. It is founded and primarily headed by lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is a designated terrorist, by the Indian Government. SFJ was banned by India in 2019 and it is behind a “Punjab independence referendum” movement.    

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva has also confirmed receiving the “donation” money by SFJ. A spokesperson for it said: “We received a contribution of $10,000 on March 1 from an individual representing the Sikhs for Justice via our online donation function. In general, we do not decline online contributions, unless they are from groups or individuals listed on UN sanctions lists or the organization/individual is engaged in activities manifestly contrary to the UN charter or its principles.”

Recently, Pannun declared that the Sikh community will contribute a further $1.3 million for UN to establish a Commission of Enquiry (CoI) “to investigate India’s use of violence and sedition charges against protesting farmers.”

“As of my knowledge, UN has not established the commission. But we are pursuing the matter through the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,” Pannun said.

The spokesperson for OHCHR said, “There is no plan for any such CoI on India being undertaken by the OHCHR. Most COIs are officially set up with a specific mandate by the 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council and have a budget attached which states agree upon. Any contribution made online by individuals or groups does not oblige OHCHR to carry out any specific activity, especially ones that have not already been decided upon by us and do not exist.”

“We have communicated the fact that there is no relevant CoI in existence to the Sikhs for Justice and offered to return their $10,000 contribution if they had any false understanding about how it would be used. In response, the group has instead agreed to allow their contribution to be added to our “unearmarked” income -- i.e. money that is used by us to carry out a variety of important general work already decided on and budgeted by the Office,” he said.